Alternative appearance artwork for Kanil
Source:
https://phillsimmer.blogspot.com/
They continued north for two days and eventually north-east through the autumnal swamps. The pair hunted freely, but not as overly as they did days before. There was something here in these lands, but they could not find it.
The swamps seemed to be wholly untouched by civilization and yet there was a presence here that communicated a deep and storied history. The presence made Kanil nervous and he found his hand often twitching to his sword.
As they continued east nearing what used to be elven lands the sun began to set and they found a trail. They followed it for a time, as it's prints were fresh, and as they neared it's source they began to hear it's footsteps and they began to peal more rapidly away from the pair. The hunt began.
Eventually they caught the creature just a short walk before it's lair
A moon-monster. A terrifying monster that murderously stalks the civilized world for prey. Legends tell that they reproduce both naturally and through the kidnapping and cursing of others. This was not Kanil's first battle with one.
Many months ago when Chieftess Uja had first decided to try and kill him her first task was to hunt one that had been stalking many bandit camps: Skullash the Dead Twilight. Kanil barely survived only with the help of Pamud and his three war dogs that sacrificed themselves to buy him time. He also lost some of his teeth.
He was stronger now and eager to test himself against such an opponent. Pamud was still scarred from the last incident and backed away.
So Kanil and Sedme met. Swinging and slashing. Dodging and parrying for minutes without a single blow landed by either.
It's blood was the color of mud. "As disgusting on the inside as the out" Kanil mumbled as it scrambled away.
Even on all fours it had incredible speed, but it did not flee. It scrambled to Pamud and began to beat and claw at the poor elephant. The monster's relative Skullash almost killed Pamud as well so Kanil charged full speed to catch up and barreled into the abomination.
The dance continued until Pamud crushed the creature's leg entirely and it fell screaming and spewing vile mud on the ground. It continued to thrash and scream. With surprisingly will power it still dodged Kanil's blows, but the battle was at it's end.
With one last roar of defiance the monster rolled on it's back and used the momentum to swing it's one remaining leg up at Kanil just as Kanil stabbed down with Cloudfought
Kanil rubbed the bleeding wounds in his gums with his fingers. He picked the body up and carried it the short walk to it's lair. The hatch was locked although he could hear movement beneath. He slammed the body on top of the hatch "I swear if I could kill you again I would" and he spit upon the carcass and lead Pamud away.
The elven forests were long gone. Most of them had overgrown into regular trees when the residents had died although a few of the larger trees were left. Kanil was awed by these having never seen elvish lands before. He wondered if the tales were true of them sleeping in these great trees and shaping crafts from it without cutting it down?
One tree had been clearly shaped to have a square like roof with a tavern beneath.
This place was strange as it also had stone roads that resembled the ones he saw in dwarf lands. Had the dwarves been here at some point?
He ventured further east and later did find elves and they were indeed sitting in a tree! It filled him with such wonder to see, but he made sure not to show it.
He learned a few things
-A coven of moon-monsters lived in the area and hunted anything and everything freely when night fell
-The god of the swamps had a shrine back west
-His lieutenants were spread throughout caves in the area
The coven was beyond Kanil's reach since they were hiding in their cave and his desire to kill them wasn't great enough to wait. The god did catch his interest. He had been feeling a desire to leave the swamps the last few days much as he initially felt no desire to go there to begin with. He felt pressed to go exactly where he felt he shouldn't: To the shrine
They were ambushed as they camped that evening by dingoes twice the size of Kanil. He laughed as he beat them away one after another. These lands brought him new challenges and great beasts.
Finally come morning they left the bodies and headed west and stopped at a grove of plum blossom trees. The blossoms were falling in streams
Source:
https://500px.com/photo/296800717/colorful-rain-by-hidenobu-suzuki
He and Pamud made there way through and as they crested the hill they saw it:
A small stone shrine with a few remaining pillars standing high although the entire thing was overshadowed by the trees of the grove whose petals left a pink floor over it. Skeletons and pieces of armor lay scattered about.
Just east of the shrine standing in the midst of the trees and watching the blossoms fall stood the deity:
Pamud reared and fled at the presence of one who had dominion over nature and Kanil stood baffled by the entirely unique and overpowering beast.
He was flooded by visions. Chastised for coming here in spite of instructions not to
"Instructions? No one told me not to come here. No one tells me what to do!"
He saw visions of himself. except he was above his own body. The battle with Skullash, the goblins, necromancers and more. He saw his battle with Cor and how the goddess had compelled him to fall with her mere presence and saw the god, Ware, above him as it reached down and touched him. In that moment he rose from his feet and beheaded Cor.
"Are you saying that you are the reason I won? That you made me kill her?" Silence from the beast.
"
No! I killed her with my own sword! I am no one's tool anymore!"
The beast seemed to look on him with pity as visions flooded once more. He saw the swamp and a great tower of dark stone jutting forth from it. Death spread ever at war with the swamp and the elves to the east.
The vision shifted as a great alliance of elves and dwarves marched forth. Ware commanded all forces of nature to harray the dead hosts to allow the alliance safe passage to the tower. He saw the final battle at a great distance and then it focused on two human mercenaries. The dead had made a counterattack raiding the dwarf camp and the humans fought viciously like heroes of legend. It shifted again and the man and woman were dead surrounded by a mound of corpses having destroyed the lieutenant that lead the horde.
A cry in the distance and the vision shifts and Kanil's vision moves toward a tent nearby. A child. The only survivor of the camp while the rest of the army fights the final battle. Ware walks from the swamp carefully avoiding stepping on, and thereby destroying, the bodies of any of the defenders. It reaches the young boy who stops crying as it looks at the beast before it. Ware stops inches from the boy's face. It then touches it's head against his and a word is spoken planted at the very core of the boy's being "
Obey"
"Was that supposed to be me? My parents? Who were my parents?" Kanil pressed his questions against the beast, but it pressed forward.
Visions of the boy stumbling south obeying a physically unheard command to return to human lands. His encounter with the fellow orphan Uja and his compulsion to obey leading him to service to her. His compulsion to obey staying his hand against the goblin smith and his compulsion to obey leading him to decapitate Cor. Everything he ever was and did was simply him following orders.
Kanil felt unraveled. All of his life and in all he did he was always obeying someone else even when he believed with certainty it was what he desired. His very desires had been shaped in order to please someone else. He fell to his knees and Cloudfought fell next to him
A new vision of Kanil returning south with Pamud. He would rally his warriors and go and defeat other threats to the balance of nature. Goblins, dwarves, great horrors from the depths. He would have the battle he so desired again and again.
Despite the vision Kanil still sat broken. He put his hand on Cloudfought
"No." He whispered "No...no...
no!" He stood up "I will destroy you! My future is mine alone!"
Kanil bolted into the trees using every ability of stealth he had picked up while fighting the Cold Hunters. He blended into the trees. and circled the monster which stood still.
Kanil continued to circle and as openings in the trees fell he threw every weapon he had at the monster.
The plum blossoms fell and knives sang through the air implanting in the beast's abdomen and legs. Still it did not move.
Kanil ran out of weapons and circled around closing in on the beast that would be his god.
He hugged the incline of the hill heading upwards towards it. Just out of sight. He ran up the rest and thrust his sword at the deity's head. Cloudfought was caught on it's skull breaking skin and implanting in bone. No blood came out. The beast's eyes turned towards him filled with indignation and pity.
Kanil quickly dodged and rolled down the hill again as the beast opened it's maw and thick webs sprayed out in his direction. He ran south-west through the shrine as the beast now sprinted after him. More webs shot out as Kanil ducked behind a pillar.
He ran back further south hoping to lose the beast as another web sprayed and caught him and he fell helplessly to the ground.
He struggled and struggled as the beast drew near. He had freed one of his hands as it reached him. It stomped one foot on his leg and his right hip exploded into gore spraying out around his armor. Kanil screamed in agony as he broke free from the webbing. His mind was lost to the pain, but instinct continued as he rolled away from the next blow.
The beast sprayed web again as he rolled around a stone pillar.
He climbed up the crest of the hill as the beast searched for him. At the top of the hill was Pamud. Kanil used what little bit of consciousness he had left and climbed Pamud as blood poured down his leg.
Pamud without particular direction galloped south far away from the shrine and the autumnal swamps themselves. Kanil woke up just long enough to stop the blood flow before passing out and spent the rest of his journey in and out of consciousness.
Visions of the parents he did not remember, of Ware standing over him when he was a boy, and all his decisions continued.
Pamud carried Kanil all the way back to Helmsfragrance.
OOC:
So. I barely survived lol. I purposely did not look up the swamp titan before hand so it's powers would be a shock to me. It really was I got the absolute worst opponent for a 1v1 battle. The plum blossoms really were falling! I was wondering if there was a glitch and the trees were collapsing as it used the sprite for a dust cloud for when that happens, but when I looked it was falling blossoms! The game really seems to be determined to give Kanil that Ronin vibe lol
I'm gonna retire Kanil for now and explore a new character that I'll drop details on soon!
My original inspiration for Kanil was the muscled idiot who stands behind the villain and does whatever he says, because Kanil was a lieutenant of a bandit chief! I thought "What happens when the musclehead who is happy to not think for himself becomes the main character and is thrown into those circumstances?"
This lead to me wanting to explore the idea of obedience and I had some philosophical moments to myself about how often we obey desires or leadings left to us by others and think that we are the ones who own them, and the struggle we have against that.
What is Kanil's identity when you take out everything Ware and others have put into him? Does he just live a life bereft of happiness since the things that he enjoys seemed to have been placed within him?
I know who the next character will be, but I'll do a proper intro soon. I wanted to explore a new playstyle, but also resolve story points for Kanil!
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Topic: In Search of Fairy Tales - Adelaathira - The End of Dwarfdom (Read 49620 times)